1st Major Role A Real Winner

Audrey Hepburn had been relegated to minor roles in six British films, including The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), before producer-director William Wyler gave her a chance to be a star by casting the 23-year-old actress as a young princess in Roman Holiday (1963).

Hepburn portrays Princess Anne, who, while in Rome during a goodwill tour, sneaks away from her royal duties and for 24 hours explores the Eternal City with newspaperman Joe Bradley, played by Gregory Peck.

After making Roman Holiday, Hepburn, who won an Oscar for her performance, remained a major film star for almost 15 years before her self-imposed retirement in 1967. This retirement lasted until she re-entered films in 1975 to star in Robin and Marian.

Roman Holiday was one of two films that director Frank Capra planned to make but subsequently passed on to his friend, Wyler. (The other was Friendly Persuasion). Wyler originally wanted Cary Grant and Elizabeth Taylor fro the roles of Bradley and Princess Anne. However, they were unavailable at the time.

Peck, meanwhile, accepted the role only after he was assured that Hepburn would get equal top billing with him. Roman Holiday was shot on location in Rome during the summer of 1952- one of the hottest summers in recent years. The brutal heat created havoc with the actors' makeup and caused countless delays as new makeup was applied over and over again.

During filming peck, who was separated from his first wife, Greta, became romantically involved with a French newspaper reporter, Veronique Passani, who was to become his second wife.

Roman Holiday was nominated for 10 Oscars, but won only three. Besides Hepburn, only Edith Head, for her costume design, and Ian McLellan Hunter and John Dighton, for their screenplay, were Oscar winners.